Russian ambassador: Crimean scenario not possible in Baltic states
A scenario similar to what happened in Crimea in 2014 was not possible in the Baltic states, Russian ambassador to Estonia Alexander Petrov said on Friday. Separatist sentiment was completely absent in the region.
“Could such a situation be transplanted to the Baltic region? It seems an entirely unrealistic scenario to me,” Petrov said in an interview with the office of Yana Toom (Center), one of Estonia’s members of the European Parliament.
According to Petrov, a coup took place in Ukraine, and residents of Crimea faced an existential threat. “In this situation, the people of Crimea chose their own path and stated their will in a referendum,” Petrov said, referring to the March 2014 referendum on the status of Crimea, after which the peninsula was annexed by Russia in violation of international law.
“Estonia is a stable state with legitimate structures of power, and there are no preconditions whatsoever even for a discussion of the Crimean scenario being repeated.”
The Russian envoy said that there was no danger of an overthrow that would threaten the foundations of the Estonian state. “This belongs in the realm of fantasy. There are many things that can be discussed, but Estonia is a stable state with legitimate structures of power, and there are no preconditions whatsoever even for a discussion of the Crimean scenario being repeated,” he said.
“We emphatically oppose statements that [Estonia's] Russian-speaking population is a fifth column. We see in our dealings with their representatives that they are just as big patriots of Estonia, who live and work here and intend to continue doing so. We have not noticed separatist moods of any kind,” Petrov said.
The ambassador said he had not met any Estonians who believed in a Russian threat. “It’s pure politics, which takes the bilateral relations on a side road and hinders their development,” Petrov said.
Editor: Editor: Dario Cavegn
Source: BNS